Yes, I am sore. It is wonderful! It is from riding!! I have ridden Frankie four times this week! Considering I have only ridden him a total of 8 times this is something to talk about.
NO, he is not coming home this weekend. Truck is in the shop. Yes, the brand spanking new truck we just bought in Oct to replace the 05 that was plagued with problems. This one has a hole in the radiator with less than 30,000 miles. Needless to say this is the last Ford. By the way it is our ninth one.
I could care less about him not coming home anyway. It means more training and more riding for me! You see the glacier has melted finally here and now it is a mosh pit.
I would have nowhere to ride IF I brought him home. Besides I leave Wed for Lexington to attend the Ranch horse convention and take my judge's test. YIKES!
Back to Frankie news, I rode yesterday and he actually rides better with a day off in between. That is good fits right in with the plan around here. We had some beautiful stops and I am getting the feel of him. I only got jammed into the swells once. OUCH! He sort of anticipates the stop and front end stops when running the whole arena, this causes me to hit the swells. Today I went down there despite it being Saturday, it is usually a zoo of people on weekends so I don't go. But....
I feel the need to keep up our progress so I went. There were around 6-8 people riding at all times in the arena which I think is good for Frankie to get used to.
He had no issues today. At one point I did a run down the middle of the arena and had a beautiful stop of about 10 feet, you could here the hush then Cory excitedly yelling YES! pet that horse and walk to the wall. We walk to the wall after a good stop to let them sit there facing it so it becomes a happy place, that way when it is time to "fence" they do not fear the wall. I loped some circles and tried a flying lead change or two, we haven't quite got that yet. I must take tomorrow off my body is so sore everywhere, but it is a good kind of sore! I will be back in the saddle on Monday you can bet on it!
Happy trails.....
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Old mare ain't what she used to be
I am of course speaking of ME! After the not so graceful fall the other evening I find myself sore all over, I am sure some of it its from riding as well. I had all intentions of going back and riding Frankie on Tuesday but mother nature had other plans. We got dumped on again with 2" of snow in one hour. My kids did have school that day, the only day this week again! When I was on the way to get them it was near white out conditions, I decided better to not drive the hour down to see Frankie. Cory rode him and said he was a real "turd". They can't all be good rides now can they?
I awoke yesterday to 4 degrees and really did not want to go outside. I carefully picked my way to the barn and got the horses fed without slipping on the ice again.
They are sick of being inside! Who could blame them.
By afternoon it was a balmy 17 degrees and I opted to go ahead down and ride Frankie.
It was cold and I was cranky from being sore and this dang weather. I had to take my youngest with me which is always a challenge. He must stay in the viewing room and play while I ride. He does not always stay inside like he should. So with distractions of someone yelling mommy five thousand times I tried to have a productive lesson. Thank God Cory has children the exact age as mine and understands the mind of a three year old. We did ride and got a lot of good out of the day. Same schedule we did on Monday, turn arounds and stops. I made good progress figuring out where my hands should be and how not to have ever growing rein syndrome. One thing that is really bothering me is Frankie's lack of ground manners.
I realize no one has ever worked with him much other than to lead him to be brushed and saddled but we need some serious time put in on manners. I am not worried he will get plenty of that when he comes home.
Oh yeah, he may make it this weekend. We are supposed to have weather in the 40's and 50's all weekend and next week! Hooray! I am going to try to ride again today although this old mare is really sore today and I am realizing I ain't as good as I once was.
Happy trails......
I awoke yesterday to 4 degrees and really did not want to go outside. I carefully picked my way to the barn and got the horses fed without slipping on the ice again.
They are sick of being inside! Who could blame them.
By afternoon it was a balmy 17 degrees and I opted to go ahead down and ride Frankie.
It was cold and I was cranky from being sore and this dang weather. I had to take my youngest with me which is always a challenge. He must stay in the viewing room and play while I ride. He does not always stay inside like he should. So with distractions of someone yelling mommy five thousand times I tried to have a productive lesson. Thank God Cory has children the exact age as mine and understands the mind of a three year old. We did ride and got a lot of good out of the day. Same schedule we did on Monday, turn arounds and stops. I made good progress figuring out where my hands should be and how not to have ever growing rein syndrome. One thing that is really bothering me is Frankie's lack of ground manners.
I realize no one has ever worked with him much other than to lead him to be brushed and saddled but we need some serious time put in on manners. I am not worried he will get plenty of that when he comes home.
Oh yeah, he may make it this weekend. We are supposed to have weather in the 40's and 50's all weekend and next week! Hooray! I am going to try to ride again today although this old mare is really sore today and I am realizing I ain't as good as I once was.
Happy trails......
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Progress
Yep, today's thought is progress. Progress in all kinds of directions.
First let me tell ya I finally made progress on the website, it is up!
go to Beyond the barn door to see it.
Not exactly perfect but a good start and yes I am making progress getting more of my stuff on there each day.
The weather has been above freezing the past two days so some melting of the glacier is happening out there. Progress.... not sure if it is a blessing or curse as it refreezes each night and then we have a giant sheet of ice to deal with in the morning. The horses have stomped down the area around the gate and trusty hay feeder so much that it is OK to put them out now. They do not venture to far from that area except to poo and roll. I did a very graceful slip and fall last evening on the stinking ice again...... bruised up my elbow but good but I am functioning.
No progress on the house hunt. Spent the weekend in Lexington searching for houses and helping my BFF Susan get her manure spreader unstuck from the snow and ice.
We will continue our hunt some more.
But now what you really want to hear. Frankie progress.....
Because it is such a mess here I was unable to get the trailer unstuck and fetch Frankie on Saturday. I went down yesterday morning and rode him. I finally got to put my saddle on him and it fits great. Cory did not ride him first this time. We went over how I was to start his exercises each ride and what it is I am looking for.
We started with the turn arounds and I am amazed at how flexible and how much softness this horse has. He is just starting to get some speed to the turn around and while he probably won't be as blazing fast as Harley it is pretty and correct with no hop to it. We then went on to stops.... my fave as you all know NOT!
Well, actually they may become my fave after all. What a difference a horse makes.
Harley was very heavy in the front and drug himself which equated to alot of front end stops, which made me very uneasy after much horn humping. Frankie he is a driver from the rear and when this boy stops it is cool! We spent time loping and stopping correctly with shoulders up and nose in. It only took me a few times to get my ever growing reins and self under control. It is a whole new ballgame when the horse carries you into the stop, what a rush! I think we did a 10-12 foot slide yesterday! Cory had a good laugh at me and said that actually I had good feel and was getting along good with him for really only riding him for the second time since his training. PROGRESS! YIPPEE!
I left feeling really good about it and it took my mind off the rest of the junk in life for a bit. Heading back down today for another lesson if I can manage it.
Happy trails....
First let me tell ya I finally made progress on the website, it is up!
go to Beyond the barn door to see it.
Not exactly perfect but a good start and yes I am making progress getting more of my stuff on there each day.
The weather has been above freezing the past two days so some melting of the glacier is happening out there. Progress.... not sure if it is a blessing or curse as it refreezes each night and then we have a giant sheet of ice to deal with in the morning. The horses have stomped down the area around the gate and trusty hay feeder so much that it is OK to put them out now. They do not venture to far from that area except to poo and roll. I did a very graceful slip and fall last evening on the stinking ice again...... bruised up my elbow but good but I am functioning.
No progress on the house hunt. Spent the weekend in Lexington searching for houses and helping my BFF Susan get her manure spreader unstuck from the snow and ice.
We will continue our hunt some more.
But now what you really want to hear. Frankie progress.....
Because it is such a mess here I was unable to get the trailer unstuck and fetch Frankie on Saturday. I went down yesterday morning and rode him. I finally got to put my saddle on him and it fits great. Cory did not ride him first this time. We went over how I was to start his exercises each ride and what it is I am looking for.
We started with the turn arounds and I am amazed at how flexible and how much softness this horse has. He is just starting to get some speed to the turn around and while he probably won't be as blazing fast as Harley it is pretty and correct with no hop to it. We then went on to stops.... my fave as you all know NOT!
Well, actually they may become my fave after all. What a difference a horse makes.
Harley was very heavy in the front and drug himself which equated to alot of front end stops, which made me very uneasy after much horn humping. Frankie he is a driver from the rear and when this boy stops it is cool! We spent time loping and stopping correctly with shoulders up and nose in. It only took me a few times to get my ever growing reins and self under control. It is a whole new ballgame when the horse carries you into the stop, what a rush! I think we did a 10-12 foot slide yesterday! Cory had a good laugh at me and said that actually I had good feel and was getting along good with him for really only riding him for the second time since his training. PROGRESS! YIPPEE!
I left feeling really good about it and it took my mind off the rest of the junk in life for a bit. Heading back down today for another lesson if I can manage it.
Happy trails....
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